USA At UAB: The Battle of I65
South Alabama (1-2) will hit I65 and travel up to Birmingham to face off with UAB (2-0) for the first time in program history. These two schools had a home-and-home scheduled previously, but was cancelled when UAB abruptly shut down their football program in 2014.
UAB has since restarted their program and have found new success on the gridiron.
If this becomes a regular matchup (which I hope for) I think this would be great for both programs. The (real) Battle of I65.
If you’ve been around the Jaguar football program since it’s inception, the name Bill Clark should be familiar with you. Coach Clark was the defensive coordinator under coach Joey Jones from 2009 – 2013 when he left for a head coaching opportunity at Jacksonville State.
In all, there are 25 players and coaches with ties to the Mobile area that are a part of the UAB program. Former assistant coaches Bryant Vincent and Richard Owens are both on Clark’s staff. Quarterback Tyler Johnston was a standout player for Spanish Fort before signing with UAB.
Since UAB restarted their program in 2017 they are an undefeated 13-0 at home. Including a 13-3 record in 2018 with a bowl win over Northern Illinois in the Boca Raton Bowl.
The Jags come into the game after a 42-6 trouncing by Memphis in Mobile when Tra Minter, the Jags leading all-purpose yardage leader, was forced out of the game with a concussion early in the game. They also made ESPN and other lists for the botched PAT that was returned by Memphis for 2-points after the Jags only score of the game.
Here’s the PAT just in case you need a reminder.
I present to you: the worst PAT attempt in college football history courtesy of South Alabama. pic.twitter.com/myXZpsA6m1
— Eagle-Eyed Social Media User Dan Why-Ner (@DanWeiner) September 14, 2019
The USA coaches pulled Cephus Johnson in the third quarter against Memphis, but head coach Steve Campbell said that he will continue to be the guy behind center for the Jags. Cephus, on the bright side, has thrown for 393 yards and three touchdowns but on the down side he has thrown four interceptions, committed three fumbles and has only completed 53% of his passes. It’s unknown if Johnson may be on a “short leash” and could be pulled in favor of Tylan Morton or Desmond Trotter.
The Blazers have a 1-2 punch at running back with Spencer Brown and Jonathan Haden. They are licking their chops after watching USA allowing over 300 yards to Memphis last weekend. However the Blazer offensive line has not performed as well run blocking as they have pass blocking. They will probably test the Jaguar rush defense to see if they can get some early success because the Jaguar secondary has covered well with an interception in each of the Jags first three games and only allowing Memphis to throw for more than 200 yards.
The Jaguar offensive line has helped the Jags average over 199 yards per game, with the help of the big game against Jackson State. But the Jags pass protection has not been the best so far this season as they have allowed six sacks so far. They will be facing a Blazer defense that are sack-hungry and will be looking to put pressure on Johnson to try to force him into some bad decisions and to try to cause some fumbles.
The Blazer defense has held their first two opponents to 7-of-31 on 3rd down conversions, tallied 20 tackles-for-loss and eight sacks while holding them to an average of 89.5 yards per game rushing, but those two opponents have been Alabama State and Akron.
When your leading receiver is your running back, that says a lot about your receiver corps. Minter leads the team in receptions (9 for 80 yards) as well as rushing yards (242). Kawaan Baker is right behind him with one fewer catch (8) but has 184 yards receiving and two touchdowns. But when your two quarterbacks combine to have 6 interceptions only completing 50% of their passes, to say the Jags passing game is struggling is an understatement.
Meanwhile the Blazers have looked very good early with two players in the top eight of Conference USA in receiving yardage.
An additional factor is injuries. The Jags got pretty banged up against Memphis. Minter is expected to play as he was sighted at practice. However Riley Cole (undisclosed) and Roy Yancey (ankle) have also been dealing with injuries but have been practicing, so it sounds like they will play but will those injuries affect their effectiveness?
Officially Cole, Yancey, and Jalen Wayne are all probable to play. Minter was last listed as questionable. Tyree Turner and Patrick Rosette have been listed as doubtful. Max Charite and Shawn Jennings have been ruled out for the game. Meanwhile UAB only has one player listed as being out for the season.
The Blazers are an 11 point favorite in the game with an over/under of 48 points. But the Jags will have Minter back as he has reportedly cleared the concussion protocol and practiced with the team on Wednesday.
While I don’t feel good calling for the Jags to win out-right (as much as I’d love for it to happen). The Blazers have put up impressive numbers against two opponents that they should have a clear advantage against. Meanwhile the Jags gave Nebraska a scare before facing a possibly the best Group of Five team in Memphis.
I’ll be a homer and take the Jags to cover but I think UAB may run their home record to 14-0 since “The Return”.
The Jags and the Blazers are scheduled for a 2:30pm kickoff from Legion Field in Birmingham. The game can be viewed on the NFL Network.
Go Jags.
Jags Dominated By Memphis 42-6
The cat fight turned out to be a one-sided event as the Memphis Tigers (3-0) dominated all phases of the game against South Alabama (1-2) at Ladd-Peebles Stadium on Saturday.
USA looked to have made big strides leading into this season as they pressed Nebraska hard in a 35-21 loss in Lincoln to open the season, then a program record 413 yards rushing last week against Jackson State. But Memphis, from the American Athletic Conference, showed the Jags that they had not progressed as much as they may have thought, at least on September 14th.
The Jags were staring squarely at being shut out at home for the first time in program history, but a big play touchdown near midway through the fourth quarter saved the team from that fate. But they did suffer their worst home loss in program history to a non-Power 5 conference team.
Both teams opened the game with three-and-outs on offense, but Memphis eventually got their offense going as Kenneth Gainwell scored on a 5-yard run with 7:21 left in the first quarter. Kylan Watkins dove for an 18-yard touchdown pass from Brady White to make it 14-0 at the 14:18 mark in the second quarter.
Later in the second quarter after a big run by Watkins, the Tigers scored on a 4th and goal when White found Kedarian Jones for a 2-yard touchdown pass taking a 20-0 lead after the 2pt attempt on the swinging gate formation.
The Tigers added a 36-yard field goal with :39 left in the second quarter to close out the first half leading 23-0.
Of the eight first-half possessions by the Jaguars offense, six of them ended with punts. One ended by a fumble by Cephus Johnson and halftime ended the other.
The Tigers out gained the Jags in the first half 327 – 93. They out rushed the Jags 245 – 55.
Tra Minter left the game late in the first quarter after a vicious hit on an 8-yard jet sweep left him laying motionless for a couple minutes before he was helped off the field by the athletic trainers and visibly woozy. He will be in the concussion protocol this week and will have to clear that before he can be cleared to play again for the Jags.
Memphis opened the second half with a quick score that was sparked by a big play when safety DJ Daniels tipped a pass that fell right into tight end Joey Magnifico’s hands that went for 58 yards to the 4 yard line. White then connected with Antonio Gibson for the touchdown to take a 30-0 lead.
Memphis added a field goal early in the fourth quarter to take a 33-0 lead with 13:10 left in the game.
On the ensuing drive Tylan Morton ran for a 7-yard gain, but fumbled the ball and Austin Hall picked it up and returned it 48 yards for another Memphis touchdown making it 40-0 with 11:18 left in the game.
The Jags got the ball back and on the second play Morton connected with Kawaan Baker on an inside slant play which turned into a 74 yard touchdown. However on the PAT snap was bobbled and in an attempt to make a play, the ball was fumbled and Jacobi Francis took it the distance for 2-points for Memphis closing out the scoring at 42-6.
The Jags were held to 248 total yards of offense while Memphis rolled up 530 total yards. The Jags rushed for only 101 yards in the game compared to 312 for the Tigers and the Jags only managed 147 yards passing to 218 by the Tigers.
USA only converted 5 of 15 3rd down attempted, but Memphis only converted 7 of 15 attempts.
I guess the positive point in the game was the Jags were only flagged three times for 30 yards. Memphis was flagged 10 times for 100 yards.
Cephus Johnson was a mere 5-for-14 for 42 yards before he was pulled midway through the third quarter. Tylan Morton was 4-for-12 for 105 yards, a touchdown and an interception.
Johnson led the Jags with 37 rushing yards on 14 carries, followed by Jared Wilson who had 28 yards on 10 carries.
Jalen Tolbert caught four passes for 37 yards. Kawaan Baker caught two passes for 84 yards and the lone Jaguar touchdown.
Brady White went 12-for-20 for 209 yards, three touchdowns and an interception. Connor Adair completed both of the throwing attempted for 9 yards.
The Tigers had a pair of runners go over the century mark with Kenneth Gainwell rushing for 145 yards on 16 carries and a touchdown. Kylan Watkins added 113 yards on 11 carries.
Damonte Coxie caught three passes for 81 yards to lead the Tigers receiving corps.
The Jags visibly struggled at the line of scrimmage, which Jaguar head football coach Steve Campbell noted in his post game comments. “We had a hard time running the ball and we had a hard time stopping the run,” Campbell said. “If you aren’t able to run the ball, you become one dimensional on offense. We had a chance to hit a play or two early and we didn’t, so all they did was tighten up defensively, and we struggled to run the ball. Memphis rushed the ball for 312 yards and we were only able to rush it for 101 yards and most of that I believe came in the fourth quarter. We got beat on the line of scrimmage.”
Campbell also noted the loss of Minter in the game. “It hurt because we are a young football team,” he said. “Tra is someone we look to for a lot of leadership on offense. Jared {Wilson] stepped up for us a little bit, but it hurt to lose Tra because he does a lot for us.”
South Alabama will travel to Birmingham for the first game of a home-and-home series between the two programs and the Jags final non-conference game of the season. UAB is coached former South Alabama defensive coordinator Bill Clark. He is joined by former Jaguar offensive coordinator Bryant Vincent as well as former assistant coach Richard Owens.
The Jags and the Blazers are set for a 2:30pm kickoff at Legion Field. The game will be televised on the NFL Network. Radio coverage can be heard on 99.5 The Jag locally in Mobile and on the iHeartMedia app.
Jags Fall At #24 Nebraska 35-21
South Alabama traveled to Lincoln, Nebraska with upset on their mind and they put a decent scare into the #24 ranked Cornhuskers and Coach Scott Frost.
The Jags took the Cornhuskers to halftime trailing by one score at 14-7 after Jalen Thompson was able to partially block a late field goal attempt by Nebraska. But the Jags focus on the “middle eight” didn’t go exactly as they wanted. On a 3rd and 8 play, starting quarterback Cephus Johnson was locked into his receiver allowing Eric Lee Jr. to jump the route for a 58 yard pick six at the 13:11 mark.
The Jags would get the ball right back but would go three-and-out. The Jack Brooks punt would sail 49 yards to JD Spielman, who elluded the first tackler and then ran it back 76 yards for the second score in under two minutes.
USA attempted didn’t give up, they would answer with two touchdowns in third quarter themselves. The first was set up by a JD Speilman muffed punt where the Jags covered it at the Husker 13 yard line. Four plays later Johnson would find Davyn Flenord on a tunnel screen for a 9 yard touchdown.
The second score was set up by an interception by AJ DeShazor at the Jag 24 yard line. USA got into the red zone thanks to a nice wheel route by Tra Minter down the left sideline then drive was capped off by a 13 yard touchdown reception by Khameron Taylor.
The scoring was capped off on the first play of the fourth quarter where Cephus would be hit from his backside and having the ball jarred loose where Alex Davis would cover it up in the end zone with 14:53 left in the game.
From there, the Jags had a great opportunity to cut the lead back to one score after Dedrick Mills fumbled the ball which Devin Rockette recovered at the Nebraska 49 yard line.
After driving down to the 12 yard line, Johnson was looking for Kawaan baker around the two yard line, but ball was delivered behind him, Baker got his had on the ball tipping it up where Cam Taylor could pick it off and returned it 48 yards to the mid field stripe.
The Jags won the battle on the statistics sheet if you ignore the score. They had more total yards (314 – 276), passing yards (231 – 178), first downs (19 – 15), total plays (79 – 66), time of possession (34:13 – 25:47) while Nebraska out-gained the Jags on the ground (98 – 83).
Cephus Johnson went 19-of-34 for 231 yards, two touchdowns, two interceptions and he was sacked four times. Tylan Morton came in for play and threw an interception when Cephus had to come out due to losing his helmet on a play.
Receiving Kawaan Baker led the way with 59 yards on four catches, Cade Sutherland gained 53 on four catches and Tra Minter gained 47 on five catches.
On the ground, Minter led the way with 37 yards on 10 carries. Baker added 27 yards on five carries and Cephus had a net of 9 yards on 18 carries with the lone rushing touchdown.
The Jags defense held Adrian Martinez to 13-for-22 passing for 178 yards and two touchdowns and one interception.
Rushing Dedrick Mills led the way with 45 yards on 15 carries. Washington added 39 yards on 6 carries after sitting out the first half. Martinez was held to 6 yards on 13 carries, with a big loss on a snap over his head though.
Receiving the Huskers Jack Stoll had three catches for 66 yards, Robinson added 33 yards on three catches and JD Spielman added 36 yards on two catches.
The Jags will open their home schedule with Jackson State on Saturday, September 7 with kickoff scheduled for 6pm at Ladd-Peebles Stadium.
Jags Face Nebraska In 11am Kick
Here we are, ready for the 2019 season to finally begin. While Thunderjags has been quiet, we are still here. This year has been very busy with off the field family business. Without any further ado, let’s preview game number one.
The Jags coming off a 3-9 record for the 2018 campaign opens in Lincoln, Nebraska to take on the #24 Cornhuskers.
The Huskers enter the third season under head coach Scott Frost after back-to-back 4 win seasons. Despite that, they are getting lots of early hype being ranked #24 in the nation to start the season.
South Alabama lost a lot from last season, but not all of it from graduation. Several players transferred out to other programs. They lost Jordan McCray and Malik Stanley to the transfer portal. Kawaan Baker is by far the leading receiver returning with 33 catches and four touchdowns. While the four returning receivers combine for a total of 10 catches. They do return six squad members from last season, a mixture of redshirts and others who didn’t see any gametime then added seven true freshmen and a senior transfer.
The linebacking corps will look to fill Bull Barge’s big shoes as they return one letterwinner from last season with one sack. They also return three redshirt freshmen and two previous squad members.
The offensive line returns four starters from last year, three of them started all 12 games. But the squad had problems knocking people off the ball, but hopefully an offseason of study and strengthening will pay dividends.
Punter Corliss Waitman decided to transfer to Mississippi State to spend what looks like his final college football season reunited with former Jag head coach Joey Jones. Frankie Onate looks to step up and fill Gavin Patterson’s shoes as placekicker.
Always one of the most talked about positions is quarterback. Evan Orth and Cole Garvin graduated. Orth started eight games, Garvin started three, and 2019 starting signal caller Cephus Johnson started one. While Johnson only threw 19 passes last year, he completed seven of them for three touchdowns and only one interception.
Though head coach Steve Campbell brought in the top ranked JUCO dual-threat quarterback in Tylan Morton, Johnson beat him out for the starting job.
As mentioned before, Johnson will be breaking in a lot of new receivers with one veteran leading the way in Baker.
The tight end position should see more work in 2019. They only accounted for one touchdown last season against Memphis.
The running back position returns two letterwinners. Tra Minter leads the way as a 2nd team All-America all-purpose back by the Sporting News and preseason watch list for the Doak Walker and Paul Hornung Awards. Minter was the only returning back to have carried the ball 10 times or more in a game in 2018. Actually, Jalin Buie hasn’t carried the ball in a game since September 16, 2017.
Though the Jags return four redshirt freshmen and a JUCO transfer to help give depth. Tony Brown and John Tank Miller are two names to keep up with this season as they have been mentioned many times over the last year and in the offseason.
Nebraska’s defense is big up front. The Jags offensive line will have their hands full with the size and speed of the Cornhuskers. Coach Edenfield will look to find mismatches and try to exploit them with misdirection and try to use some of their speed against them.
Additionally the Husker corners are pretty good. Opponents struggled completing outside passes down the field.
Offensively Nebraska has a very good quarterback, possibly one of the best in the nation, in Taylor Martinez. He can throw well and he’s very good and running the ball. The Jags defense will have to play very disciplined football. Everyone is going to make mistakes, especially in the first game of the season. Season openers are won and lost by those mistakes. In order to have a chance to win, the Jags have to minimize their mistakes against what looks to be a very potent offensive attack for the Huskers this season.
The Jags have a win over a top 25 team, they’ve defeated a Power 5 SEC team. This is their second time facing Nebraska in Lincoln. The team is ready to start the 2019 season after the lackluster 2018 record. Maybe the chances of a Jaguar win is a little more favorable than the odds that Doctor Strange gave in Avengers: Infinity War. But it takes precision, focus, and near perfect play.
While I’d love to recreate the Mississippi State win, I’m not confident I’ll see it today. We have 11 games after this one and we need to stay healthy but also get some game experience for lots of new players.
USA is a 36 point underdog according to the Las Vegas oddsmakers. I think the Jags will keep it closer than that on the road but the outright win is slim but would be extremely exciting.
South Alabama Host Coastal Carolina For Season Finale
South Alabama (2-9, 1-6 Conference) is set to play their final home game of the season which is also their final game of the season as a whole on Friday with kickoff scheduled for 2pm at Ladd-Peebles Stadium. The Jags will welcome a 5-6 Coastal Carolina team that are looking to get bowl-eligible (5-6, 2-5 Conference). This makes the third consecutive team looking to earn their sixth win against the Jaguars.
Head coach Steve Campbell is balancing getting playing time for the younger players with trying to win the remaining game and letting the seniors get playing time on Senior Day.
Senior Evan Orth, who started eight of 11 games so far this season injured his shoulder a couple weeks ago and has missed the last two game due to it. Cole Garvin, also a senior, started the first game of the season and played a complete game last week against Louisiana-Lafayette after missing most of the season due to a team rules violation when he was arrested for public intoxication.
Redshirt freshman Cephus Johnson started against Louisiana-Monroe two weeks ago, but split time with Garvin.
The Chanticleers, who joined the Sun Belt Conference last season, come into Mobile as a the favorite by anywhere from 2.5 to 6.5 points but in the midst of a three-game losing streak after facing Appalachian State, Arkansas State, and Georgia Southern.
South Alabama will be bidding goodbye to 19 seniors, some of the most accomplished players in program history to date. Among them, Jamarious Way who is in the top 10 in pretty much every USA career and single-season receiving category, Corliss Waitman who has the best punting average in program history, and Gavin Patterson who is the second-leading scorer in program history.
The Chanticleers join Appalachian State and Georgia Southern who were long-time FCS powerhouses who have joined the Sun Belt and have found success early. With just one win between them and bowl eligibility in their second season, they should be motivated and ready to play.
Meanwhile the Jags don’t have a post-season to play for, they only have pride. The Jags can play spoiler while heading into the off-season on a positive note.
The Chanticleers average 208.4 yards rushing per game and 170.5 yards passing per game. Meanwhile the Jags are averaging 135.7 yards rushing and 203.4 yards passing per game. But the Jags defense has been very susceptible to big plays, long runs and passes many of them for touchdowns have plagued them all season.
The Jags covered the spread last week, I think they’ll do it again but I’m not sure if they win. It’s more of toss-up and I think the more motivated team will win.
Inside the Numbers:
Jags Come Up Short in Lafayette 48-38
The Jags came up on the short end of a 48-38 shoot out with Louisiana-Lafayette on Saturday night. Though they have fallen to 2-9 and 1-6 in Sun Belt Conference play on the season, but they showed signs of life, which they had not shown much of over the past few games.
It looked like the Jags were on the verge of being in another blowout loss after the Ragin’ Cajuns broke out with a 54 kickoff return followed by a 44 yard touchdown pass to break a 10-10 tie with 4:38 remaining before halftime. Then they caught the Jags off guard with an onside kick, which they recovered and took 2:16 to drive 54 yards in five plays to add a second touchdown with 2:04 left until halftime.
This had been the point in previous weeks when the opponent took over the game but the Jags drove 75 yards in 13 plays and 1:53 to cut the Cajun lead to 24-17 at halftime.
USA opened the second half by receiving the kick off and driving 65 yards in nine plays to tie the game at 24-each with 10:51 left in the third quarter.
But the Cajuns responded with by scoring 17 points to regain control of the game. It started with a 45 yard touchdown run by Elijah Mitchell on the third offensive play. Then two Jag fumbles book ended a Cajun interception lead to a 41 yard field goal and a 34-24 Cajun lead at that point.
Another good special teams return, this time a 24 yard punt return, kick started a 70 yard, nine play touchdown drive to take a 41-24 lead at the end of third quarter.
The Jags could only get within 10 points in the final quarter with the Cajuns responding to the Jags touchdown midway through the quarter. But the Jags drove back down once more to with just :15 left in the game on a 50 yard touchdown pass from Cole Garvin to Kawaan Baker. The Jags attempted to recover an onside kick to try to make the game even more interesting but it was not to be.
South Alabama led the Cajuns in just about every statistical column you can find except for points. The Jags out gained the Cajuns 477 to 407, out rushed the Cajuns 223 to 210 and out passed them 254 to 197 yards. The Jags ground out 27 first downs to 17. They had 85 offensive plays to the Cajuns 52, they dominated time of possession 35:59 to 24:01, converted 11-of-19 3rd downs, converted a perfect 5-of-5 on 4th down, and they scored all five times they were in the red zone.
The Jags had more penalties with nine flags for 61 yards while the Cajuns had six flags for 66 yards. The Jags lost the turnover battle with 3 to the Cajuns lone interception, but the difference in the game was that Cajuns cashed in on those turnover for 10 points.
Cole Garvin, who started for the first time since the Oklahoma State game, went 18-for-28 for 254 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. Eight Jaguars caught passes with Jamarius Way leading the way with six receptions for 67 yards and a touchdown. Kawaan Baker caught four passes for 80 yards and the other touchdown.
Seven Jags carried the ball in the game, Tra Minter again was the leading rusher with 87 yards on 23 carries with a touchdown. Garvin gained 50 yards on 12 attempts. Baker added two rushing touchdowns to his receiving touchdown with 44 yards on the ground on seven carries.
Andre Nunez went 12-for-18 for 153 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. Ja’Marcus Bradley and Jalen Williams both caught three passes each with the former gaining 62 yards and three touchdowns while the latter had 38 yards.
Elijah Mitchell rushed for 105 yards on 12 carries with three touchdowns. Trey Ragas and Raymond Calais were both kept in check with the former rushing for 53 yards on 10 carries while the latter rushed for 34 yards on seven carries.
“I was proud of the guys and the way they fought,” head coach Steve Campbell said. “Obviously, we are disappointed when you get beat. We put ourselves in a hole right off the bat and went down 10-0, but the guys fought back and tied it back up twice. The last two weeks, we had started off well and didn’t finish the half.”
“Defensively, I didn’t like the way we finished the first half,” he continued. “We gave up two touchdowns right before halftime right after we had tied it up at 10-10. Offensively, I liked how we finished the first half, we were able to get some points on the board. We came back and tied it back up to start the second half after we had challenged the offense to start the second half fast.”
South Alabama will wrap up the 2018 season on Friday, November 23 at Ladd-Peebles Stadium when they host Coastal Carolina for their first-ever meeting. Kickoff is set for 2pm with the game being broadcast on ESPN+ (requires a subscription).
Inside the Numbers:
Jags Fall To Redwolves 38-14
South Alabama allowed 31 unanswered points after tying the game and 7-each midway through the second quarter before getting a late trash-time score as the Jags fell to 2-7 on the season and 1-4 in Sun Belt Conference play.
Arkansas State’s Justice Hansen accounted for 357 total yards and four touchdowns. He threw for 332 yards while going 26-for-37 and three touchdowns. He added 25 yards on the ground and a 22 yard pass reception as the Redwolves improved to 5-4 overall and 2-3 in conference play.
Justin McInnis caught seven passes for 177 yards and a touchdown. Warren Wand rushed for 77 yards on 16 carries with a touchdown.
Evan Orth started the game after clearing the concussion protocol, which he suffered in the Jags game against Troy on October 23. Orth went 7-of-15 for 63 yards and a touchdown before he had to leave with an injury in the third quarter. Cephus Johnson went 5-of-7 for 30 yards and a touchdown in relief.
Tra Minter rushed 17 times for 88 yards. Cephus Johnson rushed for 28 yards on 12 carries as the second best runner. Minter also led the way receiving with four catches for only nine yards. Kawaan Baker hauled in three passes for a team-leading 40 yards.
Nigel Lawrence led the Jags with 17 stops after finally returning from injury and being disqualified in the first quarter against Troy. Bull Barge recorded 13 tackles.
The Jags trailed 14-7 at halftime before the Redwolves took control of the game in the third quarter with two scores. They got a big boost when a reverse throw-back pass to Hansen picked up 22 yards into the Jags red zone. Three plays later they scored.
The second score in the third quarter came after USA tried to convert on 4th and 1 at the Arkansas State 19 yard line and was unable to do so. Three plays later, on 3rd and 7, Hansen threw to McInnis near the right sideline and was able to race 78 yards to the end zone.
After going down 38-7, Johnson led the Jags on a 10 play, 68 yard drive capped off by a 5 yard touchdown pass to Jamarius Way.
If some crazy dominoes were to fall just right over the next three week, the Jags could conceivably still earn a berth in the inaugural Sun Belt Conference Championship game and bowl contention.
Head coach Steve Campbell said, “I thought we played hard in the first half and kept ourselves in the game. We had a couple of chances, but we gave up seven right before the half. It was a big series for us offensively when we didn’t convert the third-and-one and punted it. Arkansas State was able to drive down and score right before the half and that hurt, then we had the penalty on the kick return that could’ve evened up things for us heading into the locker room. They took the first drive [for a score] to open the second half and I didn’t get us ready coming out after halftime. We couldn’t really get anything going until our last drive.”
Coach Campbell’s positives from the game were, “We didn’t have as many penalties as we have in the past… We had a late hit on the quarterback and another 15-yard penalty on Arkansas State’s two first-half touchdown drives…. We didn’t turn it over. Those are some positive things that our young guys can build off of.”
South Alabama returns home on Saturday to host Louisiana-Monroe for homecoming. The Warhawks are coming off of a 44-25 win over Georgia Southern as they take control of the Western Division with a 5-4 overall record and 3-2 conference record.
Inside the Numbers:
Battle For The Belt 2018
South Alabama and Troy will play for the “Battle for the Belt” trophy Tuesday night at Ladd-Peebles Stadium on ESPN2. | Photo credit: USA Vanguard.
Last year, the Jags traveled to Troy after the Trojans were coming off of a 24-21 over then #22 ranked LSU in Death Valley and came away with a 19-8 win in a dominating defensive performance. The Jags scored 12 points off of four Trojan turnovers and didn’t allow any points on the board until 6:16 left in the game.
This season is a bit different though. This time the Trojans (5-2, 3-0 SBC) will travel to Mobile to face South Alabama (2-5, 1-2 SBC) after an upset loss on the road at FBS transitional Liberty 22-16.
So to say that the Trojans have something to play for is an understatement. They want revenge for that Wednesday night domination at the hands of the Jaguars on national television, bring the rivalry belt back to Troy, and they also want to redeem themselves after the upset loss.
The Jags enter the game after a pleasing 45-7 get-right win over Alabama State, but only the second ‘W’ of the season for the Jags under first year head coach Steve Campbell, a Troy alum. Actually both of his coordinators, OC Kenny Edenfield and DC Greg Stewart, are also Troy alums too and they all have Division II national championship rings from their time there. Edenfield came to the Jags after a 10 year stint at Troy, the last eight as offensive coordinator.
With the win over the Hornets, the Jags hope to start a run in this second half of the season towards a berth in the inaugural Sun Belt Conference championship game. Currently, the Jags control their fate and could move into a tie for first place in the western division with a win over Troy. Meanwhile Troy looks to keep pace in the Eastern Division with conference unbeaten Appalachian State and Georgia Southern.
Quarterback Sawyer Smith will make only his second start after Kaleb Barker was lost for the season with a knee injury. The Jags defense has been susceptible to big plays and being gashed on the ground this season. By all indications the Jags will have Nigel Lawrence back, who was the teams’ leading tackler when he went down with an injury a couple games ago.
Oh and who can forget the penalties.
The Trojans are very balanced, numbers wise. They average 207.7 yards per game rushing and 205.9 yards per game passing so the Jags will have to play disciplined.
Meanwhile the Jags will look to establish the running game to take pressure off of quarterback Evan Orth and his receivers by making the Trojan defense play honest against the run. While Jamarius Way and Kawaan Baker have both had their standout moments on the season, the Jags have also developed Jordan McCray and Jahmmir Taylor into more options. Now with the return of Malik Stanley, that adds more tools for the passing game to utilize.
Tra Minter has been the workhorse in the backfield with 84 carries on the season for 263 yards and five touchdowns. Baker is the next closest rusher with 179 yards and six touchdowns.
Troy’s leading rusher is BJ Smith, with 587 yards and eight touchdowns on the season on 94 carries. He averages 6.2 yards per carry.
The Trojans have a pair of receivers in Deondre Douglas and Damion Willis who each have five touchdowns. Douglas is the receptions leader with 34 for 348 yards. Willis is not far behind with 25 catches but for 373 yards. They also have three other receivers with over 100 yards receiving on the season and they have combined for five touchdowns between them.
The keys to a Jaguar win and keeping the Belt in Mobile are three fold.
First, limit the penalties committed by the Jags. Gifting Troy with first downs or short third downs will not help a struggling defense. Penalties of aggression or frustration simply have to be avoided. If they can play cool, calm and collected they will have a big advantage right off the bat.
Second, the Jags need to withstand the early Troy onslaught. In the first quarter, they are outscoring opponents 80-21 and in the first half they are outscoring opponents 154-87. In the second half they do not score nearly as much and are actually being outscored 85-82. In USA’s lone Sun Belt win, they were down going into the second half and scored 18 points in the fourth quarter to get the win.
Third, USA must protect the ball. The Jags have put the ball on the ground 14 times and lost possession nine times to go along with six interceptions on the season. Troy under coach Brown are 5-22 when they lose the turnover battle and they are 22-1 when they win that battle.
South Alabama enters as an 11 point underdog in the game. Call it being a homer or whatever you want, but I’m picking the Jags with that spread.
By the Numbers:
Jags Win Big Over Alabama State 45-7
Offensive line coach Mike Bangtson works with the offensive line between drives early in the first quarter in South Alabama’s 45-7 win over Alabama State on Saturday, October 13, 2018.
After a tough three-game road swing which they lost all three by a combined score of 152-55, the Jags returned home for their final non-conference tilt of the season against FCS Alabama State.
The Jaguar offense started out pretty shaky on their first two drives before putting together an 8 play, 82 yard touchdown drive capped off by an 8-yard touchdown run by Tra Minter with 4:03 left in the first quarter.
Once the Jags opened the scoring, they then put touchdowns on the board on their next three possessions. The second touchdown came by way of a jet sweep by Kawaan Baker where he outran the Hornet defense to the corner of the end zone.
Alabama State got their only points of the game on one play. Kha’Dar Davis threw it up down the far sideline, the Jaguar defender went up for it but missed, then Tyrek Allen came away with it and made for the end zone with the help of his teammates making some good blocks for a 75 yard touchdown pass.
USA answered right back with a six play, 49 yard drive capped off by Evan Orth running it in from 19 yards out. The next possession, Orth rolled to his right and found McCray open for a 9 yard touchdown pass to take a 28-7 lead into halftime.
The Jaguar defense opened the second half with a 3 and out. The ensuing punt was fielded by Tra Minter at his own 25 and he didn’t stop until he found the end zone 75 yards later to make it a 35-7 game.
On the next possession, the Jags drive stalled at the Hornet 33 yard line, but Gavin Patterson put three points on the board with a career long 50 yard field goal.
South Alabama took out Evan Orth at the beginning of the fourth quarter in favor of redshirt-freshman Cephus Johnson. On his third play directing the offense, the found Jahmmir running open on a seam route and he floated in perfectly for a 56 yard touchdown for his first career touchdown throw and the final score of 45-7.
The Jags rolled up 396 yards of total offense, 185 of it on the ground. USA held Alabama State to 219 total yards of offense and only 85 on the ground. The 75 yard touchdown pass was 34% of their entire offensive output in the game.
USA still committed seven penalties for 75 yards, which is an improvement in both categories. While the Hornets committed 13 for 83 yards.
Deonta Moore led the Jags with 65 yards rushing with Tra Minter added 61 on a team high 12 attempts with a touchdown.
Orth went 12-of-15 for 155 yards and a touchdown. Johnson went 1-of-2 for 56 yards and a touchdown.
Taylor led the way with 56 yards receiving on the touchdown reception. Kawaan Baker caught two for 52 yards. Jamarius Way caught a team-high three passes for 35 yards. Jordan McCray had the other receiving touchdown with on two catches for 12 yards.
Coach Steve Campbell spoke of how well the team played against Alabama State. “It was a really good win, I’m really proud of the way the guys responded. Tonight was a total team victory. Offensively, I thought we did a lot of good things and we protected the football. We were able to sustain drives with one of them being a 13-play drive. Defensively, we played really, really well. We gave up one play, but other than that our defense played lights out. We did a lot of good things in special teams. We returned a punt for a touchdown, we forced a couple of errant punts, we hit a 50-yard field goal and we covered kicks well, so there were a lot of good things special teams wise. All three phases contributed and I can see a lot of progress. It was good to be back in Mobile.”
With the win the Jags improve to 2-5 on the season and remains 1-2 in the conference and tied for second in the Sun Belt Conference Western Division.
South Alabama will host Troy for a Tuesday Night game on October 23 on ESPN2 the the “Battle for the Belt.”
Inside the Numbers:
Jags Travel Back To Georgia Southern AKA The Scene Of The Crime
South Alabama (1-4, 1-1 SBC) hits the road for the final leg of their three game road swing to take on a resurgent Georgia Southern (3-1, 1-0 SBC) team in Statesboro, Georgia. This is also back-to-back seasons traveling to Statesboro, which is due to the Sun Belt Conference aligning into two divisions and hosting a Conference Championship Game beginning this season.
To give a little history, last season the Eagles were starting season two of Tyson Summers tenure as head coach. He had taken over for very successful Willie Fritz who left to take the head coaching position at Tulane (the Eagles won the GoDaddy Bowl to finish 9-4). Summers won the first three games of 2017 before losing 7 of the final 9 games of the season to finish a disappointing 5-7.
The 2017 season started out with a 41-7 loss to then #12 Auburn, followed by a 22-12 loss to FCS New Hampshire in Birmingham. They were 0-6 when it was decided that the six-time FCS national champions would fire Summers and name Chad Lunsford as the interim head coach.
Lunsford then lost the next three games to Troy, Georgia State and Appalachian State before having a long week to prepare for South Alabama. The Jags had started the season with two power 5 teams in Ole Miss and Oklahoma State before welcoming FCS Alabama A&M. They opened Sun Belt play against Idaho in a disaster of a game that lasted some 8 hours or so with multiple lightning delays and horrendous officiating that eventually saw the Vandals (steal a) win in overtime.
The Jags limped into Troy, who themselves were coming off of an upset win over LSU, for a Wednesday night game against their in-state rivals. The Jags turned up the defense and upset the Trojans 19-8 in front of a nationally televised audience.
The up-and-down Jags then defeated Louisiana-Monroe and lost to Georgia State and Louisiana-Lafayette before hosting the defending SBC champs, and the favorite to win the conference title again, Arkansas State Red Wolves. The Jags showed up and earned their first win against ASU. It looked like head coach Joey Jones may have saved his job, especially if they could win out and get bowl eligible again.
But the 0-9 Eagles had a different idea.
The Jags went into Statesboro and the game was a complete nightmare. Lunsford had rallied his team and they shellacked the Jags 52-0, which sealed Jones’ fate with his announced resignation effective at the end of the season two days later. It was the first time the Jags were held scoreless in program history.
Now back to current day.
The Jags have a new head coach in Steve Campbell but, as his post game comments said last Saturday, they are not as far along as he thought. The Jags were completely demolished by Appalachian State in Boone, NC 52-7. Now they hope to get some revenge from last year, notch their second win of the season, and keep their lead in their conference division.
The Eagles enter the game after a big win over one of the conference’s best teams year-in and year-out in Arkansas State.
The Eagles sealed the game with a reverse option pitch that went 47 yards for the game-deciding touchdown with :19 left in the game. The Eagles completed just one pass in the game, though they only attempted three passes, but the lone completion went 61 yards for a touchdown, however the Eagles rushed for 348 yards in the game.
South Alabama has already shown on the season that they are very susceptible to the run and big plays. The defense ranks 117th nationally in total defense (501.8 yards per game), 120th in rush defense (234.4 yards per game) and 126th in scoring defense (44 points per game). Add in the fact that the Jags have not found a way to stop the triple option attack, one could even say it has been their kryptonite over the last several years.
But the Jags offense showed some triple option itself early in the season, but has shied away from it the last few games. Coach Campbell, offensive coordinator Kenny Edenfield and defensive coordinator Greg Stewart all have experience with the option somewhat. But will that translate onto the field?
Just a few weeks ago the Jags were riding high after getting their first win under Coach Campbell and playing well on the road against Memphis before last weeks debacle, where the Jags were outscored 45-0 after tying the game at 7 in the first quarter.
The most prominent affliction that can be seen each and every game has been penalties. USA is next-to-last nationally with 51 penalties, only three behind Kent State, and 130th which is dead last with 96.8 penalty yards per game.
The Jags are only averaging about 20 more yards rushing than they do in penalties. The teams leading rusher only has 164 yards through 5 games, or 32.8 yards per game.
Quarterback Shai Werts leads the Eagles with 369 yards and six touchdowns rushing on the season with Wesley Fields with 298 yards and one touchdown on the season. Werts has only thrown 27 passes on the season and has completed 14 of them for 264 yards and three touchdowns. So they don’t throw much, but when they do they are averaging almost 20 yards per reception.
On the flip side, the Jags Jamarius Way has emerged as the top receiver on the team with 500 receiving yards on 35 catches for two touchdowns. The next closest receiver is running back Kawaan Baker who has 16 receptions for 186 yards and three touchdowns.
Defensively the Jags safety, Nigel Lawrence leads the team with 48 total tackles, which indicates how much success offenses have had against this defense. The next closest defender, Nick Mobley, has 26 stops on the season.
But Nigel was helped off the field last week with a knee injury, it’s uncertain the extent of the injury but at a minimum he will miss a couple weeks if it is not a season ending injury. Add in linebacker Riley Cole’s knee injury keeping him sidelined and you start to see the Jags injury bug showing itself once again.
The line opened with GSU as a 13 point favorite in the game. It may be a conservative line with the Jags history against the triple option and porous run defense.
I really hope to that I am proven wrong but from what I have seen this season, I cannot confidently go with the Jags to cover much less win outright in this game. Again, I would love to be shown wrong, but key injuries along with the scheme and the love affair with the yellow hankies all add up to a recipe that just doesn’t taste well for a Jaguar fan.
The game can be seen on ESPN3 with kickoff scheduled for 2:30pm in Statesboro, Georgia.
Go Jags!
Inside the Numbers: